White calcite (marble) cylinder seal

From Mesopotamia
Late Uruk / Early Jemdet Nasr period, about 3200-3000 BC

An extensive trade route between eastern Mesopotamia and Syria
and Egypt

This seal shows animals and pots in front of a shrine or temple.
It is perhaps a ritual scene. Monumental buildings dating to the
late fourth millennium and decorated with niches and buttresses
have been excavated in southern Mesopotamia, especially at Uruk,
and are found at a number of sites further north along the River
Euphrates. The poles with rings were probably the symbol of a god
or goddess but which one is unknown.

The seal is typical of a style using filed lines and
drill-holes, found in the Diyala, north-east of Baghdad, but also
in Syria. Seals like this are evidence of a trade network between
the two regions.

The earliest cylinder seals were rolled over hollow clay balls
containing tokens; later they were impressed on clay tags and
tablets marked with tally signs. A variety of early scenes carved
on the seals show economic activities, food production, processions
or ritual acts. These may reflect different 'departments' within
the central authority.